Government authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo say 250 schools in North Kivu and Ituri provinces will open their doors to more than 82,500 children when the new school year begins Monday. These areas are the epicenter of the latest Ebola epidemic in DRC. The Ebola virus is extremely contagious. It can spread quickly through direct contact with blood and other bodily fluids of infected people. UNICEF says it is scaling up operations in the region to promote prevention measures. It says school principals and teachers will receive training on Ebola prevention and protection and on how to educate children on good hygiene practices to avoid the spread of the virus. Spokesman Christophe Boulierac said UNICEF and its partners had reached more than 2 million people with Ebola prevention messages since the start of the outbreak on August 1. “An increasing number of communities are now aware about Ebola and … they know better how to prevent its transmission,” Boulierac said. “The active involvement of concerned communities is key to stopping the spread of the disease. So, we are working closely with them to promote handwashing and good hygiene practices.” According to the latest World Health Organization estimates, there have been 116 cases of Ebola, including 77 deaths, in the DRC. UNICEF said children make up an unusually high proportion of people affected by the disease. It noted that 24 percent of confirmed cases were in people under age 24. Boulierac said more than 150 psychosocial workers had been trained to help comfort children …
Україна є постачальником №1 лиж до Європи – дипломат
Україна є найбільшим постачальником лиж до Євросоюзу, заявив в ефірі Радіо Свобода надзвичайний і повноважний посол України в Австрії Олександр Щерба. «10% нашого товарообігу – це вироби з деревини. І під цим грифом маються на увазі лижі, які вироблялися до цього часу у Мукачеві компанією Fischer Sports. Зараз ще один виробник лиж будує завод в Україні. Виробник називається компанія Head. Тобто у нас буде ще більше лиж. Ми зараз є постачальником лиж №1 в Європі», – сказав Щерба. Читайте також: Посол Щерба про австрійський нейтралітет, промислове лобі і українські лижі Раніше європейська статистична агенція Eurostat повідомляла, що у 2016 році Україна забезпечила 50% потреб країн Євросоюзу в імпорті лиж і сноубордів. Тоді Україна поставила 731,4 тисячі одиниць товару, випередивши Китай і Тайвань. Серед країн ЄС найбільшими експортерами лиж і сноубордів були Австрія і Великобританія. …
Feeding Cows Seaweed Could Help the Environment
Researchers have been searching for ways to reduce cattle emissions with food additives, such as garlic, oregano, cinnamon and even curry — with mixed results. Dairy farms and other livestock operations are a major source of methane, a heat-trapping gas, much more potent than carbon dioxide. Both gases contribute to global warming. Now, University of California researchers are feeding seaweed to dairy cows in an attempt to make cattle more climate friendly. VOA’s Deborah Block has the story. …
Activists: Proposed Myanmar Highway ‘Ecological, Social Disaster’
Community and conservation groups in Myanmar have branded a planned highway linking a port project to Thailand an “ecological and social disaster,” saying it would uproot indigenous people from their homes and farms. Critics said an environmental and social impact assessment for the road project, approved by the Myanmar government in June, failed to adequately specify compensation for loss of land and livelihoods, among other problems. “This is a road to an ecological and social disaster (in Myanmar),” said Christy Williams, Myanmar director for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), an international conservation group. The highway is considered strategically important to both nations as it would link Thailand to a deep-sea port and planned Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Dawei, a town on the Myanmar side of an isthmus divided between the two countries. The industrial complex would serve as a gateway to Southeast Asia’s markets, with goods trucked between Dawei and Thailand, avoiding the need for ships to sail southward through the Malacca Straights, the world’s busiest shipping lane. Region of rich biodiversity But Williams said the planned road would pass through a region of “huge ecological importance with rich biodiversity.” The assessment looked only at the effects on people and the environment within 500m (550 yards) of the road, he added, but the impact will affect a much wider area. He said WWF had been working with communities and provided “extensive recommendations and solutions” to the Myanmar government and Myandawei Industrial Estate Co. Ltd, the Thai firm …